A FORMER spa manager claims staff at the five-star Grosvenor Hotel in the heart of Chester were treated like 'Victorian domestic servants'.

Joanne Givens told an employment tribunal of 'internal politics' and pressured working conditions at the Duke of Westminster's hotel in Eastgate Street.

Miss Givens, 29, was awarded more than £4,000 last Friday after the hotel was found to have breached its contract by dismissing her without any prior written/verbal warnings.

The hotel, which failed to follow proper disciplinary procedures, was also found to have unlawfully deducted about £1,749 from Miss Givens's final wage packet to cover the balance of a £3,100 car loan lent to her by the hotel.

Tribunal chairman Elaine Donnelly said the hotel had no contractual right to deduct the remainder without Miss Givens's permission.

As a result, Miss Givens was awarded two months pay, amounting to £2,500, and the hotel was ordered to repay the outstanding loan balance.

Miss Givens, represented by her uncle, is the first person in recent times to win a tribunal against the hotel, which was represented by a barrister at the Liverpool hearing.

The Grosvenor Estate offered to settle 'out of court' but Miss Givens refused.

Miss Givens, who was often trusted to run the hotel during her time there, told she paid rent. the tribunal: 'I did not relish the prospect of attending the tribunal, but did so in the interests of a fair hearing.'

During the tribunal, Miss Givens told how The Chester Grosvenor:

Suffered a monthly shortfall of £200,000 last year due to worldwide terrorism hitting tourism.

But Miss Givens was unable to afford the apartment when she was dismissed on return from holiday last October.

'Hotel manager Ross Grieve said the achievement of £5,000 in spa revenue in my absence demonstrated what would be achieved without me,' said Miss Givens. 'Later that day I was dismissed, primarily for poor management.'

Miss Givens admits she had previously been told to delegate more and improve her man-management skills, but did not believe it was a formal warning.

Miss Givens took up her post on January 6, 2003.

On joining the Grosvenor empire she was allocated a Grosvenor flat in Westminster Terrace, Handbridge, Chester, for which

'Throughout my entire period of employment I had not been subject to any prior warnings and certainly did not receive any previous written warnings of any description,' said Miss Givens.

The creation of a spa was seen as a money-spinner. As a dedication to its success, Miss Givens volunteered to accept a £2,500 pay cut - but increased pressure followed.

Her confidence was knocked after being told finance director Hilary Peck preferred Claire Logie, deputy spa manager, for the role of manager.

Miss Givens sometimes worked more than 50 hours a week - and 95 hours prior to the spa's May 12 opening.

'I approached the MD on Friday, May 9, and requested that my team have the weekend to get the spa ready,' she said. 'But he shouted at me and stated he didn't care if we worked '24/7 and all through the night'.

'The management culture of the hotel was such that I was advised not to call the MD by his first name. He sometimes addressed people by their surname.'

Miss Givens, now living with her parents in Skelmersdale, added: 'I believe I was made a scapegoat for the inability of the establishment to achieve financial targets.'

None of the claims made against the hotel or its managers were defended at the tribunal by the Grosvenor Estate.